Forbidden Fruit
by Mylifeasafangirl
Summary: James has a secret that he can't tell anyone, and Lily is desperate to find out. What happens when he finally caved and Lily sets out to help him. Oneshot!


There's always been something so tempting about the forbidden.

Something that screams out of bounds but at the same time draws you in for that exact same reason.

James Charlus Potter was one of them, at least to Lily Marie Evans.

They had been friends since just before the Christmas holidays of their sixth year, and now it was November in their seventh year. James had grown up considerably since the war had arrived at Hogwarts and made itself known. Lily had loosened up since her friendships with the Marauders and had therefore become more relaxed around James and more likely to laugh rather than frown at their antics.

Consequently, Hogwarts had become considerably quieter than before, now that the public arguments had decreased in number. But today was not one of those days.

James had been acting rather strange recently. Even Sirius and Remus had commented on it to Lily, Alice, and Marlene and this was an event of importance. If they didn't know what was going on then it must be a fairly incriminating topic. And Lily had always been curious about such things.

"WHY WON'T YOU JUST TELL US?"

"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, EVANS".

Once again, the Gryffindor Common Room were subjected to one of the duos infamous arguments.

Lily was fed up. She was fed up of fancying James Potter when he had finally given up on her. She was fed up of having to spend even more time with the object of her affections now that they were the Head Students. She was fed up of James lying so blatantly and so badly to her and everyone else.

James Potter, however, was fed up of the questions. James Potter was fed up of fancying Lily, having to deny it, and then convince himself that being friends was good enough for him.

This argument was not a pretty one, for both of the participants were massively fed up.

"BECAUSE MAYBE, POTTER, IT'S POOR FRIENDSHIP ETIQUETTE TO LIE TO THOSE CLOSEST TO YOU".

James went deadly quiet, "Who says I've been lying to anyone?"

"Maybe because it's obvious to anyone who knows you".

"What like it's perfectly obvious that you're a goody two shoes who has to know everything even though it may damage the person to tell you?!"

"Well, if that's how... If that's how you see me then..." Lily trailed off before rushing off to her old dormitory without looking back.

James was fed up of having Lily run away from him. He was fed up of having to keep a secret from the last person he wanted to hurt. He was fed up of being put in this position.

And so James Charlus Potter stormed out of the Portrait Hole without looking back.

* * *

Lily was fed up of fancying the one thing she couldn't have. The one thing in her life that could still be used against her without a moments thought. She was fed up of the so called "forbidden fruit" being able to affect her so easily.

And that was why she had to find him.

A few hours had passed since the blow up in the common room, and that had allowed Lily to cool down and see that confrontation would not be the way to convince James to confide in her. She needed to be his friend rather than his foe.

None of the Marauders knew where he was, they had given Lily a sad look left over from before, and then walked away. This was going to be even more difficult than she thought.

Of course, James had the Map, of course it was just Lily's luck. Now she had to walk around the castle aimlessly in the hopes of finding him.

It took half an hour.

He was along the Fifth Floor secret passageway that he had shown her last week when running from Filch after a late night trip to the Kitchens. He had his head in his hands and his knees brought up to his chest, he looked to be in pain. Mentally or physically, Lily did not know.

Silently, Lily walked over and slid down the wall opposite to join him, mirroring his position. They were close enough in the small space that their toes were touching.

As if he sensed her presence, James looked up and their eyes locked.

Blushing slightly, Lily glanced down and took a deep breath, "Look, I'm sorry for earlier, James. I know I was bang out of order to demand to know what's going on. I know that I should have been there as a friend rather than making you feel isolated. It's just that you've been so distant recently and it looks like it's be-".

"Lily shut up", he was smirking.

"-en... Sorry"

"I shouldn't have said what I did earlier. And you're right".

"Right about what?"

"I know I've been obvious about this, but I've been wanting to tell you for ages. It's been... hard to keep this from people".

Lily leans forward so their noses are just centimetres away and grabs his hand. He automatically, and without realising, runs his thumb back and forth over her knuckles.

"So tell me now, James".

He doesn't say anything but rather retracts his hand and roots around in his pockets. Eventually he finds what he's looking for and presents it to Lily. She takes it gently in her hand turns it over slowly. The small dagger couldn't have been longer than the distance from her elbow to the tip of her middle finger and the blade itself was scratched and dulled by age, as well as hints of rust creeping towards the centre. The handle had fine gold prints crawling lazily across the width in intricate patterns. The dagger seemed to glow with a muted sense of power that could reach out and grab anyone it wanted.

Five minutes passed with Lily inspecting the dagger and sneaking glances at James who was staring at her intently.

Lily cleared her throat, "How did you get this?"

"My dad sent it to me, I dunno maybe a week and a half ago? But he said to keep it safe, apparently there have been a few reports about Death Eaters raiding a few homes and not taking or killing anything so Dad thinks they're looking for something. A weapon, possibly. So I was sent this and I was told not to let anyone know or let it out of my sight, because if I do then it could cause a lot of problems".

Throughout his speech, James had somehow achieved possession of Lily's hand, and was now tracing patters across her palm, sending shivers down her spine.

"Do you want to get rid of it?"

"Lily, I can't, I have to keep it safe".

"Come on," she turns her hand in James' and tightens her grip before starting to stand up, "I know somewhere we can do both".

* * *

They were standing in the Room of Requirement now. Crowded by tall piles of random belongings that have been abandoned and stranded by their previous owners. Glancing around her, Lily could see a broken chair, roughy a dozen broken quills, and a dusty head mannequin with a dulled silver tiara placed upon it.

James was standing nervously within the middle of the room, clutching the knife tightly to his chest.

"Lily, I can't do this".

"Why not?"

"I'm drawn back to the power," he mumbles, "I've been around it for too long and now it's kind of... Attached itself to me?" he mumbles.

Lily studies James as he can't meet her eyes and shifts his weight to foot to foot. Watching him, Lily feels a rush of affection towards the Head Boy. He was no longer the arrogant, scrawny, little boy he used to be who could do no wrong. He was now the mature, strong, and caring young man he had flourished into.

Slowly, Lily moves towards him and takes the dagger from his cramped hands, before rising on to her toes and whispering into his ear, "Close your eyes, James".

He grabs on to her hand, the effect of her close proximity physically having an impact on his body and then his voice, which wavers, "Where are you going?"

"I'll still be in the room, James, I can hide it, then you can't come back and find it. Close your eyes, James".

Her hand slips out of his as she backs away, making sure that he keeps his eyes closed.

~~~

Two minutes later, she returns to find James concentrating on hearing where she is, still with his eyes closed.

Slowly, she creeps forwards and studies his face without his slightly arrogant smirk. His warm breath blowing on to her face causes her pulse to jump and skip crazily.

Lily had always liked the forbidden, and James had never seemed so forbidden, yet appealing, to her before.

Lily was also fed up of having poor self control when it comes to her instincts.

Suddenly, she rises onto her toes again and presses her lips slightly to James' own. He jumps slightly and makes a small surprised noise in the back of her throat, causing her to pull away slightly.

Without opening his eyes, James reaches back for her, pressing his lips to hers hungrily and desperately. Lily gasps slightly as he untucks her top from her skirt and runs his callused hands across her stomach. Using this to his advantage, James delves his tongue into Lily's mouth and deepens the kiss, pressing her closer into his own body.

Lily reaches up and loosens his tie, undoing the knot so she can access the shirt buttons and trace patterns along his collar bone, making him growl lowly in his throat. Tracing patterns over his shirt, Lily quickly undid the buttons and ran her hands over the smooth muscular torso before her.

The reaction that Lily was causing within James suddenly escalated as he gained new access of skin underneath her shirt and hips, causing him to suddenly pull away.

When he opened his eyes, Lily was greeted by a dark caramel colour instead of the light hazel that she was normally acquainted with, darkened by desire. His hair was in more disarray than normal and she could only guess that it was her fault and she realised she was probably in the same, if not worse, state as James.

"Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

Lily didn't answer, instead she just leaned forward and kissed him.

Lily had always been forbidden to James and now that she finally wasn't, something forbidden never seemed to taste so good.  
/


End file.
